Elias & Company is located on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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"Storytellers" is a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in the central plaza on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The entrance of the Carthay Circle Theatre at Disneyland Adventure. The building is the central feature of Buena Vista Street, and it's taller than Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Los Feliz Five & Dime is one of many stores on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Visitors have their photo taken at the entrance to Cars Land at California Adventure Park, during media day Thursday. Mark Rightmire, The Orange County Register

Tracie Kim at left, and Maria Padilla take a picture on Route 66, the new part of California Adventure during the grand reopening on Media Day Thursday. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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"Tire Heads" gather for a group photo during Media Day at Disney California Adventure Park Thursday where Cars Land was added to the park featuring new attractions. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Kenny Vongbunyoung and his girlfriend Kim Ton, eat ice cream together as they cruise through the new Cars Land at Disney California Adventure during Media Day Thursday. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Feet were the main mode of transportation Thursday on Route 66 of California Adventure during the grand reopening Media Day. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Across the esplanade at Disney California Adventure, the new Buena Vista Street reflects the time Walt Disney arrived in Los Angeles and his struggle to succeed during the 1920s and 1930s.

"The good feelings of that (Main Street), we wanted to translate here," said Ray Spencer, creative director of Buena Vista Street. "We want people to walk in here and feel safe, feel like they are home."

Spencer said the goal is to let visitors encounter the California that Disney experienced when he arrived "as a risk-taker with big dreams and big goals."

Disney creators gutted the original entrance corridor of the 11-year-old Disney California Adventure. They wanted an entirely new ambiance to a park that hadn't performed well, a park that lacked the warmth many feel at Disneyland.

The public gets its hands, and feet, on Buena Vista Street, part of the $1 billion makeover of California Adventure, for the first time on Friday.

Disney removed most everything inside and outside the turnstiles: the California letter statues, mosaic tiles that looked like mountains, a Golden Gate bridge for the Monorail, a metallic sunburst statue, and a bakery and ice cream shop inside a train car.

In their place, crews built a walkway lined with eight shops and four food venues, culminating with a plaza and a fountain.

There are mature shade trees and seating areas so guests can stop, relax and take it all in.

Visitors can hop aboard Red Car Trolleys that trundle along the street, turning onto Hollywood Boulevard. The street intends to combine a Los Feliz-like neighborhood with a downtown feel.

Buena Vista Street nods to Disney history, as it does with the names of Disney's core animators, referred to as "The Nine Old Men," outside Atwater Ink & Paint. A model of Rock Candy Mountain – a Disneyland ride designed but never built – sits in a candy store window.

And there is the number on the Red Car Trolley: 717 – the day Disneyland opened, July 17 (in 1955).

A young child might walk through and just enjoy the look and feel of Buena Vista Street, said Lisa Girolami, director and senior show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering. "But there are also deep layers. If you're a true Disney-phile, those stories are here too."

Disney designers borrowed from Main Street, U.S.A.

They used a forced-perspective technique to give the optical illusion that the buildings are taller. They avoided palm trees that would take guests' vision upward and "out of frame."

Visitors can walk all the way through shops and restaurants indoors, like the Main Street Emporium. And the street ends with an iconic building: Carthay Circle Theatre, instead of Sleeping Beauty Castle. The theater is taller than the castle.

Carthay Circle is the street's hub with a fountain like those by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in that period. The theater is designed after the former venue where "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" premiered but holds a restaurant and two lounges – one public, one private.

On one side of the circle, the park is erecting a new "Storytellers" statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. Unlike the one in Disneyland, Walt is dressed in 1920s clothes and fedora from his early days, and Mickey is in his old-school style. The statue is 6 feet, 8 inches tall and on the ground so guests can pose for photos and even put their arms around Walt.

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